New hospital consultants could be recruited "within weeks", Minister for Health Mary Harney said today.
The need for new procedures, pay, terms and conditions for consultants have been the subject of on-off talks for ten years but as yet a new contract had not been agreed.
But Ms Harney told RTÉ Radio today that the situation could not continue and that she expected consultants under new contracts would be recruited within weeks.
FG leader Enda Kenny
The Health Service Executive (HSE) agreed to suspend recruitment plans last September at the request of Mr Connaughton. But Ms Harney said today that "time is running out" and new deal must be agreed "before Christmas".
The fine points of a deal struck brokered by independent talks chairman Mark Connaughton SC have yet to be agreed but an informal understanding to begin limited recruitment was reported last month.
"We now want to proceed and recruit new consultants. It has to be on the basis of a new contract of employment," Ms Harney said.
The HSE had accepted Mr Connaughton recommendations which includes extended hours, a limit on private work and a salary of €216,000 for public-only consultants.
"If the consultant bodies accept those recommendations, not just in theory but actually in spirit, then there's no reason why we can't proceed between now an Christmas - which is a matter of six weeks away - to recruit those new consultants," Ms Harney said.
The HSE wants to reform the way hospitals operate by making the system consultant-led which requires recruiting over 1,000 new specialists. The Minister warned that if agreement is not reached then recruitment will begin in any case.
"I am confident that we will be recruiting new consultants on the basis of new contracts beginning over the next number of weeks," she told the News at One.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny criticised the Minister's expenditure on advisers.
He listed a number of services that have been curtailed but noted that while there had been a ban on recruiting health workers, this did not apply to advisers to Ms Harney.
Mr Kenny told the Dáil that since 2002, the cost of special advisers in her office had increased from €206,000 to €666,000 and asked Mr Ahern whether this represented good value for money.
He said this another example of the health service being "over-manned and over-managed".
The Government reminded him of former US president Ronald Reagan's description of babies' alimentary canals.
"It has a huge appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other."
The Taoiseach said he did not understand Mr Kenny's position. He said there was a range of improvements and reforms needed in the health service which had 1230,000 employees and a €15 billion budget.
He defended those working for Ms Harney saying they were "working to their full capacity and to the best of their ability and are doing an excellent job in helping us to bring in the reforms".
The Taoiseach also criticised Mr Kenny for his "permanent" attack on the service.